Back on April 30, we sunk a 37-foot steel crane barge (deck
equipment removed) that was donated and towed by Hancock Marine and sunk at 40 32.159' N /
73 39.468' W

New Rock Heads to The Fishing Line Reef!Starting this week (12/10) there is 15,000 cubic yards of r9ck headed to The
Fishing Line Reef! If you want to know what 15,000 cubic yards look
like...It takes six to seven household garbage cans to equal 1 cubic yd...so this equates
to four 55 gallon oil drums or...60,000 drums. A typical refuse truck hold 30-40 cubic
yards...so It's HUGE! We will have more details on this soon!

THE FISHING LINE REEF GETS A FACELIFTBy Rich Johnson

(Numbers at bottom of page)

In 1999 we
told you The
Fishing Line Artificial Reef and thanked all of those who were involved. To summarize and remind you, Steve Heins, the Marine Reef
Specialist for the DEC helped me film what I still consider to be a very proud moment in
"The Fishing Lines" history. We sunk the first installment to The Fishing
Line Reef Site. Its our gift back to you whove supported us so I wanted to
help your fishing and the environment at the same time. The location
of "The
Fishing Line" Reef Site, sits on the old MacCallister grounds, a few miles
southwest of Jones Inlet in 51-foot of water on a 245 degree compass heading. It rests on
hard sand with sea bass, fluke and blackfish gravitating to it immediately, but it will
take a little more time to form an ecological community of barnacles, mussels and other
assorted creatures that will make it a wonderful oasis to migrating fish as well. It was
quite an event as we caught the sinking on tape for my show last season.

Well over
the last few weeks weve made several additions to the reef and dropped a load
of stuff on the site

including demolition materials from the work on the
Wantagh Bridges. We have dumped 1,800 cubic yards of concrete and rebarb and have much
more planned to go by the end of the month including four barges, concrete and a 28-foot
tugboat. We want the reef to be dispersed in such a manner that we get the most coverage
area, allowing boats to anchor on the reef without feeling crowded. All of this
of course would not be possible but for certain individuals who donate time and do the
hard work getting the materials to the reef site. I would like to thank first and foremost
our good friend Steve Heins of the New York State DEC. Without Steves dedication and
the DECs ambition to enhance our marine resources this type of thing can not be
accomplished. I also want to thank the folks at ABS Marine for the tugboat services and
the Rapid Demolition Co. for their work and materials as well.

The LORAN
numbers for original barge which started "The Fishing Line" Reef Site in 1999 are 26842.0 &
43733.78. The Lat/Long for this barge is 40 32.121 N & 73 39.600W. The new numbers for
the pieces we placed on the reef over the last few weeks include 26843.2 & 43734.2,
26843.8 & 43734.5, 26843.6 & 43734.3, 26844.00 & 43734.7 also look very
promising. As long as you start in these areas and search around you should be able to
find prime fishing structure for a variety of species and the Capt. Al has caught sea
bass, ling and striped bass form here already this season.

THE FISHING LINE REEF A REALITY

�By Rich Johnson

Skies were partly sunny and seas calm, just what we hoped
for as Steve Heins, Marine Reef Specialist of the DEC stepped aboard for the filming of
what I consider a very proud moment in "The Fishing
Lines" history. Todays taping of my television show was the sinking
of my first installment to The Fishing Line Reef Site. We made arrangements
with the DEC and in particular Steve Heins, to sponsor this reef site with our own
funding, without asking listeners or viewers of the radio & television shows for
contributions. Its our gift to these same viewers and listeners whove
supported us that we give back something to help their fishing and the environment at the
same time. Mother Nature cooperated with us and things went according to plan as the
30-foot x 60-foot x 7-foot steel barge sank to the bottom with the promise of excellent
blackfishing and a plethora of other angling opportunities in the very near future.

This site, now known as "The Fishing Line" Reef Site, sits on the old MacCallister grounds, a few miles southwest of Jones Inlet in 51-foot of
water and a 245 degree compass heading from Jones Inlet. The numbers for "The
Fishing Line" Reef Site are Lat/Long 40 32.121 N & 73 39.600W. For LORAN, the
numbers are 26842.0 & 43734.0 (approx). You can also try the numbers I found this week
as well. The southwest corner is26842.33 & 43733.58 while the north corner is 26842.23
& 43734.13 nd the X that marks the spot on the water is directly at 26842.10 &
43733.77.

It rests on hard sand with sea bass, fluke and blackfish gravitating to it
immediately, but it will take a year or two to form an ecological community
of barnacles, mussels and other assorted creatures that will make it a wonderful oasis to
migrating fish as well. It was quite an event as we caught the whole process and just how
hard all involved worked to make our dream a reality, on tape for an upcoming television
show.

There were many participants I would like to thank for helping us realize our dream. First and foremost, our good friend Steve Heins of the New York State
DEC and the departments of Fish & Wildlife and Marine Resource for coordinating

the
effort. ABS Marine and Demersal Marine Services of Babylon for the barge and services. The
tugboat Mattituck, with Capt. Kevin OBrien and crew for towing our barge. The
Suffolk County DPW commissioner, Charles Bartha and Suffolk County Executive Robert J.
Gaffney. The assistance of USCG Jones Beach and the 41-foot utility boat
41394 along with the Town of Hempstead for the resources of the Conservation &
Waterways with Commissioner Ron Masters, Bay Constables Unit #2 with Sargent John Ferrar
and crew. As I closed the show with Steve back on my boat, it was a very proud moment for
me, knowing I had given something back to the fishing community and fishing environment,
that has given so much to me over the years. Thank you!

Copyright May 6, 1995-2017
The Fishing Line

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